Chapter 7 - Prominent People and Places
Ironbound City has a long established, rich and mysterious history. There have been many prominent people, places, and events that have taken place within its limits. From the founding of the Ironbound Facility back in the 1860's through the emergence of the Supers and everything in-between and since there is much history to this place. This chapter will give a bit of background and character to the prominent people and places that have made Ironbound City the bustling metropolis that it is today. =Places and Agencies= The establishments and agencies that make up Ironbound City are the most prominent faces that add character to the city itself. From the bustling Downtown district to the Ironbound Facility itself to the smaller dining and dancing establishments there is something that adds to the feeling of life that the city has. The Ironbound Facility This facility was the first and most prominent building in Ironbound City. The Facility was staked out and built in the heart of an isolated wilderness. The goal of the facility was to establish a safe and isolated research and experimental compound so that Doctor Phlux could pursue his genius and many area and fields without affecting a populace around them. The original facility was a five storie building built of iron and lead. It was a vaguely octohedron building with high walls and secure gates. The original building was simple and inconceivably complex at the same time. The building expanded and rose as Doctor Phlux created more and higher technological items and equipment. The original iron and lead were slowly replaced with high resistence, radiation and temporal flux shielding and nigh indestructible compounds. The compound continued to sprawl into new and more fantastic fields including medical, dimensional, temporal, and nuclear pursuits. Doctor Phlux's genius knew no limits. The building today in no way resembles the original compound. The present incarnation of the Facility closely resembles a high tech version of Oz with high, sheer compound walls and various high towers and compounds packed in behind them. Access to the facility is granted only with previous permission and everything is tightly guarded. There are several compounds within the Facility that produce much of the high technology weapons, armor, prosthetics and cybernetics. Mysteries abound concerning the Facility and rumors fly like the countless Supers populating the area now. The Clover The Medical experimentation and development compound within the facility is called The Clover due to its shape. The building consists of four wings that form off of the central hub. Each one is dedicated to various fields. The North wing specializes in cybernetic and bionic technology. Limb replacement, human augmentation, reconstruction and rejection treatment is all studied in this wing. Bionics and Cybernetic facilities are mostly undertaken here as they are the most advanced facilities for such activities in all of creation. The East wing specializes in genetic manipulation and engineering. Curing or eradication of lethal or debilitating diseases and the research surrounding them takes place in the East wing. Human test subjects are given vaccines, genetically manipulated and some given powers through genetic manipulation. The South wing is a non-research wing and houses people and Supers who are treated and recovering from nearly fatal wounds and those who normal medical treatment and facilities simply wouldn't be effective enough. Supers are an incredibly complicated and complex lifeform to treat as their biology and physiology are quite different from the normal human. The most advanced treatments and equipment are here for cases such as these. People that are changed due to the myriad forces that have leaked into the environment but are unable to handle the change as well as others are also treated here for their problems and this wing is the main reason that the Supers have survived and established the way that they have. The life saving and extending technology allowed their bodies to handle and adjust to the changes rather than killing them outright. The West Wing is mostly administration and archiving. All of the experiments and the bionics and cybernetics that have been sold, installed, repaired or upgraded are catalogued in here. The genetic manipulation and treatment records are housed here as well. There is a staff of roughly fifty people with offices here. The staff is made up of scientists, doctors, theoretical geneticists and counsellors for those people who may have a rough time coming to grips with their new metal parts. High Energy Facility There is a large domed facility towards the back wall that houses the high energy research compound. Various Nuclear experiments and studies have taken place here. Studies into fusion, plasma generation, and various other fields take place within the highly shielded walls of this compound. The first branch of study was how to shield the surrounding area from the energies released and so the building was built and rebuilt as newer and better materials were created based on these tests. As experiments were brought to fruition and better power generation methods, better weapons, and better protections were created new fields were studied as Doctor Phlux stumbled into other areas such as Temporal Fields and Dimensional Energies. These newer fields caused the facility to be rebuilt time and time again as newer materials were needed to house the stronger and stranger energies contained within. It was during these experimental stages that the energies leeched out into the surrounding land and through decades changed the people that had accumulated outside of the walls of the Ironbound Facility. The facility today is nearly impregnable and able to contain many and varied explosive, nuclear, temporal, dimensional, magical, and most other forms of energy or explosive. The materials that the building is made of is not widely known of or even marginally available outside of the Ironbound Facility unless expressly developed for a specific purpose. Further unknown studies into unfathomable forms of energy are still being researched and developed here but are amongst the most tightly guarded secrets in the world. The Manufactorum All parts and machines are constructed in this immense factory area that occupies the North-Western quarter of the Ironbound Facility. Every weapon, cybernetic limb, sensor array, compound, alloy, and armor that is constructed within the Facility is built here. An army of droids and more mundane robots build everything to plans that are programmed remotely by nano-bot as the need arises. Each robot is given an individual program via nano-bot for the day. The nano-bots expire at the end of the day and are re-sent every 8 hours to prevent people from possibly stealing or hijacking the robots to learn their own methods of reproducing the plans. The Manufactorum is highly guarded by an armor of both mechanical and human defenders using the latest technology that the Facility has produced. The Training Facility This is one of the most recent facilities that have been added. The need for such a compound hadn't been present until the first Supers appeared. These are the most resilient and highest tech facilities for Super training that exists. Unless the Super has billions of dollars and a staff of engineers and scientists, the ability to train safely and properly doesn't exist out in the world. Doctor Phlux set this facility up to allow the Supers that had been emerging to train and perfect their powers safely and away from the general populace. This is the only facility that is available to Supers without supervision and intense scrutiny. The training facility is made of the same composites that the High Energy Research Facility is made of making it ideal for Supers to train without fear of their powers going awry and destroying a city block. The Facility is nanonbot controlled and capable of creating complex training routines that the Super demands. Things such as barriers, cannons, combat droids and the like can be created at a moment's notice and can range in a variety of difficulties and lethalities. Everything is made of nanobots and can be tailored explicitly to the needs of the particular Super training at the moment. For access the Super simply needs to sign up, much like a gym membership and schedule times that they would like for training. There are dozens of different rooms to accomodate dozens of supers at once in the facility to help avoid conflict and allow Supers to train when they feel they need to rather than when there's a free spot available. Doctor Phlux's Personal Facility Doctor Phineas Phlux founded the compound in 1868 and this was the heart and soul of the original compound. Starting with only himself and a handful of assistants he founded the Ironbound Facility to do his experiments away from the general populace where they might do harm should they go awry. This was the original research and experimentation area. This central spire in the Ironbound Facility contains his personal quarters, his private lab and several unknown and undocumented areas where he presumably did or does his most personal and important work. No one is quite sure if Doctor Phlux is still alive or what condition he might be in as he would be close to 150 years older than he was when he founded the facility. Of course all documents and records pertaining to him are locked up here in his own personal archives and he hasn't been seen in public in quite some time. That is it can't be proven that it was actually him. There has been movement in the personal quarters and there has been cloaked figures coming and going from his person quarters from time to time. People clamor and try to prove whether it is the Doctor or not, but again no one alive can truly describe what the Doctor looks like so even getting a look at this figure wouldn't prove much. Such is one of the great mysteries of Ironbound. The Genocide Lounge The only place that is truly neutral ground in the city is the Genocide Lounge. This lounge is located in the south end of Ironbound City and was established in the early 1900's as a place where Supers could relax without fear of attack. The Lounge is regularly frequented by heroes and villains alike who may need to speak about things without fear of betrayal. The lounge today looks like a ravey nightclub with booths lining the walls and the front area. The bar is located in the front and is currently operated by a gentleman in his 60's only known as Murphy. The man has a very gruff yet friendly demeanor when he's gotten to know someone. He's been used to dealing with posing and posturing for how many years no one truly knows. Rumors abound that Murphy may actually be a God or an unknown Super. His powers or abilities are unknown, if he has any at all. The dance floor is full of colored lights and strobes. Loud, pulsing music fills the Lounge most nights. The Genocide Lounge has a strict no powers, no weapons, no hostility policy and in fact seems to be enforced through mysterious technology or equipment. For whatever reason powers don't seem to work inside of the Lounge and all weapons will need to be checked as soon as people enter. The Genocide Lounge is meant to be neutral territory and any hostilities will be met with swift and terribly authority. Murphy tolerates no breaking of the rules of the place and violators will find themselves swiftly ejected from the club, seemingly without having traversed the space in-between their seat and the front door. The Cape and Cowl Coffee Shops "Coffee so Super it has a Secret Identity" These coffee shops are scattered around the city and feature prominently in the culture of Ironbound City. Finding a unique marketing opportunity the founder decided that they would market around the growing population of Supers in the city. The Coffee Shops have drinks themed towards Supers such as: *The Mighty Mochaccino *The Double-Identity Dopio *The All-American Cafe Americano *The Colossus Cappuccino. There are about a dozen of these coffee shops scattered around various parts of the city. Each one is open until midnight and opens up at 5am. It's not an unusual sight for costumed Supers to be sitting at the tables drinking coffee and such. This has become such a common occurence that even normal citizens sometimes show up in costume to fit in with the actual Supers. ISRA and the ISRA Building The emergence of the Supers was a frightening thing for mankind in general. There were many thoughts and feelings on a race of super men and women that stood head and shoulders above the rest of mankind. There were many worries and the United Nations heard the concerns and complaints of many nations as the first heroes and villains wandered away from Ironbound City and moved to other countries and areas. There was the ever present worry that the current heroes could one day turn against the people that they currently protected. Through many discussions it was agreed that there should be a governing body for the new race of humans that had emerged. However Ironbound City was already ahead of the world in this regard. What started as a three storie office building is now a shining tower in the east end of the city. The agency originally named the Ironbound Supers Relations Agency has recently been renamed as the International Supers Regulation Agency. The ISRA monitors and acts as Liaisons between Supers, Super Leagues, and the general populace. Heroes and Villains are prone to fighting and collateral damage is bound to happen. It is one of the ISRA's duties to ensure that the collateral damage couldn't be prevented, to ensure that the Supers didn't go too far, get too violent, or too destructive. They handle the legal and the relations aspects of being a hero and ensure that the villains are internationally wanted and monitored for. The ISRA does a lot of the footwork for Heroes in finding and maintaining a watchful eye on villains; Somthing that the Heroes are most likely unable to keep track of themselves. They ensure that Heroes stick to the laws and don't get out of hand. The ISRA handles international law governing the guidelines and restrictions on heroes and Supers in general. The ISRA tower is a gleaming spire made mostly of glass and steel and houses hundreds of offices above ground with everyone from Lawyers to International Law Enforcement, or PR specialists and Insurance Adjusters. These are all the public faces and the most necessary fronts of the ISRA. These offices and people keep the ISRA operating and helps to calm the general populace that may be a bit nervous in the face of people flying about the city or fighting in the streets. Below ground however is a facility to house captured villains. There are cells made from special materials that can handle most things that Supers can throw at them. There are many such Towers and facilities scattererd around the world but the one in Ironbound City is the largest and most sophisticated, being the primary source of Supers. There are several transports warehoused below ground as well should Supers needs to be transported from facility to facility. The undergound facility is staffed by both human and robotic guards armed with powerful weapons, both lethal and non-lethal. The Defenders The Defenders is an international group of Supers devoted to protecting the world from the threat of evil Supers and other threats. While they have Supers in many parts of the world their main headquarters is found in Ironbound City. The League is lead by Dervish, an incredibly talented warrior and brilliant tactician. The membership includes Supers of all sorts from the cosmically powered to new heroes willing to make a difference. The Defenders HQ is a technologically advanced miracle of engineering found in the West side of Ironbound City. Five stories of high tech computer tech, weaponry, and steel house the group. There are a variety of vehicles, housing, and laboratories suiting the myriad talents of its members. The building doesn't often come under attack and the few times that it has have been repelled quite easily. The Cyberworks The Cyberworks is a small chain of tech shops around Ironbound City. There are four shops in the city, each around the north, south, east, and west ends of the city. They serve as repair and installation shops for cybernetics and other devices. While they don't manufacture their own parts they are excellent technicians and installation specialists that are part doctor and part mechanic. Each one is operated by an Inventor that oversees or performs most installations or repairs. They are neat, clean, talented, and affordable. These shops are the best and fastest way to get things repaired on the fly. City Hall The current city hall was built in the early 1950's and represents the peak of deco architecture. The building is a large five story building with a large park and garden in front. Reflecting pools line either side of the plaza with the large marble statue of The Comet in flight standing as a message in the center. Most of the city organization and operation takes place here on the third floor. The two floors above it serve as finance and meeting halls for things such as City Council meetings or other civic functions. The bottom two floors make up finance and the Public Works offices. What isn't on any plans or descriptions is the fortified bunker in the sub basement. This holds as a fall back for the mayor and others to ensure that an operational government will remain should a villain try to control the city through force. It also ensure that attack on the building can only come from above. The building is also designed to be locked down should any major threat be leveled towards the building or city management. =Prominent People= Much like buildings form the character and the face of Ironbound City, its people form the backbone that helps the city stand or fall on a day to day basis. Many people have founded, later upheld by other generations and gently guided by the people who have helped or hurt the city. There are many people who are prominent, vital, or legendary in the city. Mayor Theresa Greene Mayor Greene is the more recent and popular Mayor of Ironbound City. She's an enchanting personality and a strong voice when the city and its people are threatened. The challenges of running a city like Ironbound City are difficult and diverse. Balancing a budget where a quarter of the city may be reduced to rubble at a moment's notice is difficult to say the least and leaves her often wishing that just one Super would develop a power for becoming a Super Accountant. She has been proven capable of handling the populace and being stern but fair when the need arises. Mayor Greene is also secretly a Super. This is a fact that she's hidden from the populace for more reasons than just a secret identity. Despite the fact that her powers revolve around the control of plants she feels that the populace would reject her on that fact alone, believing that she used her powers to influence the populace. In her other life she is the costumed Super, Greenhouse. She has the ability to control plants and flora in general. Police Chief David Jenners Chief Jenners has been in command of the ICPD for roughly ten years now. He's a seasoned veteran cop who has been on the force for 23 years. He's a tall, well built man who has discovered that his hairline is growing thinner while his middle is growing thicker. Finding himself more and more behind a desk or directing things from behind the radio he is a firm and fair voice guiding the ICPD when the Supers are too busy to deal with more mundane and daily things. Chief Jenners has an exemplary record and has a reputation for dealing with the ICPD in a manner consistent with the honor and service that they claim to protect. Alexander Irons, Owner of Cyberworks Alexander Irons is a technological genius. He has the ability to manipulate and create nearly anything and as he got older decided to put his talents toward helping people at large. He created Cyberworks as a tech shop out in the field to help supply and install or repair tech out in the field. Each of his shops are operated by other technological savants. Not everyone can be a superhero but everyone can help, and so he hired those who had the way but not the will to put their lives at risk on the streets. Currently there are four Cyberworks shops but he's very prominent for the way that his shops help the populace. The parts themselves are purchased or provided by the Ironbound Facility but his techs install and repair the parts without the need to schedule a trip to the Facility or try to repair them themselves. Each of his shops has a doctor and a technician to help those who are injured and install parts as needed. As a person he has contributed large amounts of money to research and financial aid to those who need it. Mister Irons is in his late 70's now but used to be a Super working under the name of Gearhead. Doctor Phineas Phlux Doctor Phlux wandered with a small complement of staff and assistants out into the wilderness of 1860's Colorado and established a research and experiment laboratory that he called Ironbound. The purpose of the facility was so that he could experiment without fear of harming the general populace. Doctor Phlux was quite possibly the first Super though no one would have ever recorded it. His mind was well advanced and his theories and notes were as far beyond normal science as we are beyond the cave man. He was a brilliant man, his mind full of ideas and theories that could help the world if he could only work without fear of harming people in the path of progress. Doctor Phlux is quite possibly singlehandedly responsible for the greatest advances of mankind. He is responsible for quantum leaps forward in the area of nuclear and quantum physics, medical technology, genetic engineering, cybernetics, bionics, protection, building materials and dozens and dozens of other fields. He could literally build anything that he put his phenomenal mind to. Dr. Phlux advanced technology and medicine decades forward in a short time but has become reclusive over the last thirty years. There have only been whispered possible sightings of what could be him coming and going from his personal quarters, which served as the main experimental facility in the original incarnation of the Ironbound Facility. If Phineas Phlux is still alive today this would put him at just over 180 years old. While his technology has advanced medical technology and extended the average human lifespan most people think that even this would be beyond the reach of Doctor Phlux's impressive mind. No one knows for sure if he's still alive or dead or if he exists somewhere in-between. Perhaps he's placed his brain inside of a robot. Perhaps he's transcended a physical form. No one knows for sure and the questions remains one of Ironbound City's most hotly debated topics. Christopher Edwards, Comet The Super that would become Comet was the first reported Super in the history of Ironbound City. As the land was changed by the energies permeating the area from the Ironbound Facility, the people who had lived there for years were slowly changed. Christopher Edwards was the first reported Super. He may not have been the first but he was well reported on from there after. One fateful night in 1926 he awoke to find his house on fire. He looked around him to see that his room and his clothing was also on fire. Frightened he fled his house trying to outrun the fire and screaming as his clothes burned and the neighboring houses started to catch. As he ran through the streets however he found that he wasn't extinguishing and in fact was leaving a fiery trail behind him that was setting other houses on fire as well. Scared witless he tried to put himself out and only stopped burning when the fire brigade arrived and dowsed him. He relit shortly thereafter bit didn't panic. He was brought to the Ironbound Facility where he spent several weeks under the watchful eyes of the scientists there. Weeks later he was seen leaving the facility, seeming to be in control of his powers and announced that he would be helping the city as best he could and took the name of The Comet. His career lasted close to twenty years before he was killed in the streets by an unidentified Super. There is a statue in his honor in the front courtyard of city hall. While he may not have been Ironbound City's most powerful or most prominent hero, he was the first and the first to be brave enough to serve the city. His actions helped others decide that it was the path that they would choose to walk as well. Doctor Equinox Doctor Equinox is one of the first and most prominent Supervillains to have sprung from Ironbound City. Doctor Equinox has held the city hostage no fewer than seven times. He is a mastermind and a tactical genius. He has an amazing ability to build weapons and explosives which he outfits his minions with during his reigns of terror. Dervish Dervish is the leader of The Defenders, Ironbound City's premier superhero League. Dervish is a fierce fighter with an alarmingly sharp tactical mind. Her powers enhance her physical abilities making her faster, stronger, more durable with nearly limitless stamina. None of these fall into the Super categories but they place her well and above normal humans. She fights with two enchanted swords that she inherited from her grandfather. Most people seem to wonder how someone who isn't cosmically powerful has managed to lead a team such as the Defenders for so long. Dervish is a great leader with an incredible amount of heart and bravery and stands toe to toe with foes much more powerful than herself. She leads through respect and bravery and a willingness to sacrifice herself for the greater good should the need arise. There are others much more powerful than herself on the team but none with so much fighting spirit as her.